Multiple-entry visas for business, travel or family visits are being granted, with the longest validitybeing 10 years, both governments said on Sunday.

 

The development comes after China and the United States agreed on a multiple-entry visa policyin November.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry¹ spokesman Hong Lei said on Monday that the latest move will furtherpromote exchanges and cooperation, push forward strategic cooperation and benefit people inboth countries.

 

Gao Ping, consul² general at the Chinese embassy in Canada, said China issued 230,000 visasto Canadians last year, with 80 percent of them traveling to China for business, tourism or familyvisits, meaning that the majority of Canadian visitors will benefit from the policy change.

 

The Canadian government website quoted Perrin Beatty, Canadian Chamber³ of Commercepresident and chief executive officer, as saying: "The future of countless⁴ Canadian businesses isin China. These new visa arrangements will make it easier for them to meet more frequently withtheir clients, distributors and suppliers, and to build the long-term relationships they need tocompete."

 

According to Chinese government statistics, bilateral⁵ trade reached $55.2 billion last year andChina is Canada's No 2 trade partner.

 

Jia Xiudong, a senior international affairs researcher at the China Institute of InternationalStudies, said, "The new policy reflects that Canada wants to strengthen exchanges andcooperation with China, as the country has shown great potential in economy, trade, investmentand tourism development."

 

The move will save frequent travelers the trouble of visiting embassies, which is time-consumingand incurs⁶ extra cost, he said.

 

With more than 100 million overseas trips made by Chinese tourists last year, China hasbecome a hot source of travelers, and countries including the US and Britain have smoothed visaapplication measures to attract Chinese.

 

Jiang Yiyi, director of the China Tourism Academy's International Tourism Development Institute,said, "Visa application has always had an important influence on inbound and outbound travel."

 

Since Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea launched visa-free trips for Chinese citizens in 2008,about 2.8 million Chinese have traveled there annually⁷ in recent years, accounting⁸ for nearly halfof all the country's tourists to the ROK, Jiang said.

 

Dai Yu, marketing⁹ director at online travel agency Ctrip's Tourism Department, said, "We sawgrowth of more than 50 percent in the number of Chinese tourists to Canada last year."

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